In the medical field of the invention, it has been known for more than thirty years to exert a vascular massage, along with the manual lymphatic drainage techniques, which are not very effective, which theoretically act on the lymphatic flow, but which, in practice, are insufficient for absorbing incrusted oedemas. Vascular massage has a complementary purpose which is to filter out the tissues of the members, this by raising the excessive tissue liquids centripetally wherein they are absorbed into the remaining operational proximal lymphatic vessels, roots of members, axillary and inguinal of lymph nodes, and anastomoses of the torso where assistance can be had through manual manoeuvres for draining.
In the 1970s, at a time when pressotherapy was practised with a single bag, Doctor Claude-Julien Cartier had the idea to use the liquid state and the high density of metal mercury to drain the members by placing them vertically in a rigid enclosure (in the form of a bundle or of an arm sheath) and causing the mercury to rise along the member (protected by a neoprene membrane) at variable heights, and according to speeds and times that varied according to the pathology to be treated.
The work of Doctor Cartier was the object of two patent applications published under applications FR-2 572 651 and FR-2 639 222.
Pressotherapy with mercury brings the therapeutic field certain advantages, due to the application on the members of a substantial pressure gradient to disinfilter them, resulting in the following set:                “the mercury means”: perfect progressive and ascending annular moulding, with a high pressure gradient;        “the mercury effect”: action on the superficial and deep tissues resulting in:                    an immediate blood volume flow expelled;            a tissue lymphatic release;            a secondary arterial dilatation;            eutrophic therapy of the interstitium (supporting tissue);                        “the mercury profile”: muscle and ligament effectiveness, aesthetic reshaping of the member, fast action, sustainable action;        “the mercury strategy”: ambulatory treatment, simple to use, “works faster and farther”, concrete result, short manipulations, precise protocols.        
However, under ecological awareness, it has become imprudent to use mercury, and imperative to obtain the same effects without mercury.
Parallel to this work, Dr Cartier, due to his research, introduced into the minds of the manufacturers of pneumatic pressotherapy equipment the need to move from the single chamber to the juxtaposition of several chambers, then to carry out therein a pressure gradient but which will for them remain low (with the pressure gradient being 10 cm of mercury (Hg) for maximum pressures of 20 cm of Hg).
These techniques implement inflatable and deflatable cells connected to a pressurising system, comprised in practice of a compressor.
Several apparatuses according to this principle have been proposed in prior art.
In particular a massage sleeve is known described by the patent document published under number FR-2 511 241. The sleeve described comprises a plurality of cells arranged over the length of the sleeve, which can be inflated and deflated in order to exert a tightening pressure on a member of the body when this member is surrounded by the sleeve.
The sleeve comprises a flexible outer envelope comprising a plurality of individual compartments of which each one is provided to encircle the member when the latter is surrounded by the sleeve, and a plurality of inflatable bags of which each one can be received individually in one of the compartments of the flexible outer envelope. Each one of these bags comprises an orifice connector which passes through an opening formed in the flexible outer envelope for inflating and deflating bags.
Such a device is known and carried out in order to facilitate the repair of existing pressotherapy apparatuses by avoiding proposing a sleeve comprised of membranes forming cells that are integral with one another. As the bags are independent from one another, it is easy to replace them in case of need.
With such a device, according to the patent, the cells are flat in deflated state and cylindrical in inflated state. This results in a socking of the cells one on top of the other, arranging between the socks zones with a low pressure, even without pressure. The massage, and therefore the drainage, of the body surfaces treated is as such carried out in a very imperfect manner.
In practice, the cells of such an apparatus receive low pressures in absolute value, with maximum values of about 80 mmHg/cm2 and the pressure gradient, when it exists, remains very low ranging from 80 mmHg to 0 mmHg distributed over the entire member i.e. about 80 cm. And this device prohibits increasing the pressures without accentuating the strangulations by the sockings of the device.
The patent document published under number FR-2 950 245 described another pressotherapy device, according to which an enclosure forms a sleeve provided to cover a section of the body, with this enclosure comprising a plurality of compartments isolated by partitions, with these partitions each being joined at the periphery to the internal and external walls of the enclosure. In addition, the partitions are each provided with a series of perforations intended to create a loss of load between the entrance and the exit of the enclosure.
Such a device has several disadvantages among which:                the manufacture of the enclosure with its internal partitions fixed at their periphery to the internal wall of the enclosure, appears relatively complex;        the perforations of the internal partitions may not have sufficient resistance to the relatively substantial pressures, if it is desired to increase the therapeutic effectiveness;        the internal wall of the enclosure, once the latter is under pressure, can, as previously, have the form of successive socks that are detrimental to an effective drainage.        
Pressotherapy devices are known such as described in the patents published under numbers EP1213002A1, DE8530876U1, DE8620269U1, FR2144971A5 and FR2511241A1). These devices use sleeves comprised of a plurality of cells (or bags) that have, according to a cross-section, a profile that can be assimilated to that of a parallelogram, a diamond or an almond. As such, these cells make it possible to obtain a partial overlapping, ideally of about ⅓, having for result to allow these devices do not have any discontinuity in the pressure zones.
More precisely, these cells allow these devices to not have zones in which no pressure would be applied on a portion of the body.
However, such as explained hereinabove and contrary to mercury pressotherapy, these cells have a socking when they are used with high pressures, thus causing a discontinuity in the pressure gradient along the portion of the body whereon one of these devices is used.
The experience and the use of mercury having convinced as to the usefulness of the strong pressures and of their harmlessness in human therapy, the invention has in particular for objective to overcome the disadvantages of prior art, by applying in a very uniform manner progressive pressures that can be high (maximum from 500 to 800 mmHg/cm2).